Invisible Secrets (GrayGhost)
by cupidgentie
Summary: (TAKES PLACE AFTER THE EVENTS OF PHANTOM PLANET) Danny wonders where he stands with Valerie after she finds out his identity but when an "accident" leaves Danny unable to use his ghost powers properly, it's up to Valerie (with the help of Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Dani) to find out what happened and set things right.
1. Prologue

It was a calm rainy night in the town of Amity Park. People hurried home under their big umbrellas from their movies, shopping trips and dinner dates. Unlike most nights, it was completely ghost free. Ever since the disasteroid, ghosts like Skulker and the Lunch Lady would come out to pick a fight, but for some reason they didn't.

This was great news for the white haired hero, known to the world as Danny Phantom. The reveal of his identity caused him to be one of the most famous boys on earth. Due to all this fame, Danny never got a break, at home and at school. Either a bunch of school girls would crowd around him and cry about how much they loved him or paparazzi would attack him with camera flashes.

He didn't hate his fans, but he sure didn't love the constant attention. But this was a time he could be outside _alone._ Danny looked outside his window and smiled. "Going ghost!" He whispered, as white rings enveloped his body, turning Danny Fenton to Danny Phantom. He turned off the lights in his room, phased through his window flew across town. The rain was getting heavier but the second, but Danny didn't mind. It was actually quite calming.

The young boy soared through the night sky, looking for a place to relax. Finally he spotted a nice place on top of the department store. "Perfect…" He muttered as he glided to the roof. He sighed and took a seat on the edge of the building. "This is the life."

The rain pattering on the streets and the soft cold droplets hitting his face calmed Danny. He loved the rain. Most people would worry about their hair and their clothes getting wet but Danny didn't give a care in the world. He swung his feet back and forth, closing his eyes as he cleared his head of all the stress from now and looked upon the past.

Danny missed being out alone in the quiet. Just like things were before his reveal. When it was just him, Sam, Tucker and Jazz. He missed being the loser at school. Nobody would really mind him, except Dash and Kwan. "Why can't things just be normal again?" Danny nearly yelled. He quickly covered his mouth, hoping no one heard him.

He quickly became invisible causing the water that had fallen on him to splatter all over the roof. He peeked over the edge and saw a hooded figure turning the corner. Danny leaned closer to get a better look, but he couldn't see a face. "Hello?" The figure called. 'Shit! They must've heard me' The ghost kid thought.

"Hello! Anybody here?" The voice yelled in a much clearer voice. 'Valerie!' Danny could recognize that voice anywhere. 'I have to leave!' He instantly got up and headed towards Fenton Works. Danny was too afraid to look back. Even though he was invisible, he always felt like Valerie could still see.

Once he was safely back in his room, he became human again and took a deep sigh. "That was close." "What was close?" the lights suddenly flickered on. Danny jumped and turned around to find his adoptive little sister Dani looking up at him, a strawberry ice cream cone in one hand and the other on the light switch. She giggled. "No need to get your panties in a twist, dude." Danny grumbled and rolled his eyes. "What are you doing in my room?" "The real question is what are you doing outside past your curfew?" Dani licked her ice cream, narrowing her eyes.

"What time is it?" He glaced at his bedside clock. "It's 10:02! Only 2 minutes past my curfew. It's no big deal!" Danny shrugged. "Mmmhmm. I think Mom and Dad will beg to differ. You know how strict they are about that." Danny took a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, knowing his little sis was right. "What do you want?"

Dani gave her brother a big ice cream covered smile. "That's the spirit! Now I'll give you a choice here, do you want to pay up with cash and get things over with or do all my chores for the next 3 weeks?" Danny rolled his eyes, walking over to his dresser. "I'll do your chores. Now get out I need to get ready for bed." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

Dani nodded and gave him another devilish grin before scurrying out the room and slamming the door. Danny flinched at the impact, then shaking his head. "That girl is crazy." he softly whispered to himself as he pulled out his big white T-shirt and his skull print pajama bottoms Sam had given him as a birthday present last year.

He swiftly changed out of his regular attire and into his sleepwear. "I'll take a shower tomorrow." he told himself, climbing under his bed sheets. He turned to his side, closed his eyes and tried to drift to sleep but he couldn't. Thoughts of Valerie crossed his mind. Did he still have feelings for her? He didn't know. He thought he had feelings for Sam, but after a few weeks of dating they both realized they were better off as friends. What if his feelings towards Valerie were the same?

Now that he thought about it, his fears of being seen were very irrational. But why did he get so scared? Valerie always hated the Phantom boy, and now that she knew his true identity, what if she hated him? It was about time he talked to her. The last time they really spoke to each other was when she told them they wouldn't work out.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow..." Danny breathed out, before descending into sleep.


	2. Chapter One- Breakfast

Most mornings in Amity Park started off with calm streets, faint sounds of birds chirping and winds softly whistling through the tunnels, alleys and trees. Unfortunately, this was not one of those mornings for the children of the Fenton household.

"FLAPJACKS! GET YOUR FRESH MADDIE FENTON FLAPJACKS!" Jack Fenton yelled as he repetitively hit two frying pans together. Danny turned in his bed and groaned, covering his ears with his pillow. "JAZZ GET ON UP!" Danny heard his father yell down the hall.

"Uh oh, I must be next." He thought aloud, burying himself under his bedsheets, preparing for the storm. "DANNY MY BOY IT'S TIME TO RISE AND SHINE!" Jack kicked open the door, running over to Danny's bed and quickly hit the pans together. Danny winced and plugged his ears, trying his best to block out the racket. Finally his dad left to go wake up Dani.

When the coast was clear, Danny sighed in relief and pulled the sheets up off of his head. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. "I am totally dreading today." The boy said, thinking of all the girls at school who just loved to crowd him and follow his every last move. He shuttered at the thought. Where was the respect for privacy?

He cautiously slipped out of bed and stretched a bit more. The floorboards beneath him creaked as he walked towards the bathroom. He slammed the door shut and begun to get ready for school.

When Danny finished putting his clothes on, he searched around his room looking for his sneakers. "Where the hell are they?" He groaned as he got down on all fours. He crawled towards his bed and looked underneath, to find them. He smiled and snatched them up before placing them on his feet.

"Danny hurry up!" He could hear his mother call from the kitchen. "I'm coming!" Danny said finishing up his shoes and sitting down at his computer. "But first, let me check my emails…" He quickly signed on and looked for new emails. "3 spams… oh! An email from Tucker!" He smiled, pressing the link.

"Hey guys! It's been awhile since we've gotten to hang out.." Danny read out loud, "But, I found out that I'll be able to go to Casper at lunch and eat with you guys from now on! And maybe if I get my schedule cleared we can see a movie or something on friday. I'll see you guys later on today. ~ Tucker" Danny's smile grew even bigger. Ever since Tucker became mayor, he was really busy so Danny and Sam didn't see much of him. "This is great! I hope Sam saw this too."

Danny jumped up out of his seat and turned off his computer. He ran over to his bedpost, grabbed his backpack and slid down the banister. When he reached the floor he walked over the the kitchen with a bright smile. "Good Morning!" He he told his family.

Jazz looked up from her plate of flapjacks and smiled. Dani waved and Jack set down his newspaper. "Good morning Son!" He beamed.

"Well someone's in a good mood." Maddie Fenton turned around from the stove, wearing a pink heart shaped apron over he blue jumpsuit. Danny nodded , sitting down between Jazz and his father. "What's been going on, _dude_?" Jack glanced at his 'Teen Slang for Adults' book before putting it down and smiling at his son. Danny blinked and shook his head. "Tucker's supposed to be going down to the school today to eat lunch with me and Sam." He explained.

"That's awesome, sweetie! I know how much you've been missing him. Maddie set down a plate of flapjacks in front of Danny. "Thanks, Mom." He replied. Maddie kissed her son's cheek in reply. "You're lucky you came down just in time, because I was just about to eat your plate." Dani said, stabbing the air with her fork in Danny's direction. He rolled his eyes at his little sister and took a bite of his food. He gave a "Mmmm" in satisfaction.

"So, Dani," Maddie looked in Dani's direction, "How are you enjoying 7th grade?" The 12 year old shrugged. She just started school for the first time a few days ago. "It's pretty cool. Nobody really talks to me though." "Well it's only your first week. I'm sure you'll make friends in no time! It took me a while to make friends when I started Junior High too." Jazz butted in.

Dani took another bite of her flapjacks. "I don't think I'll have to worry about that. I can just hang out with Danny and his friends!" Danny's eyes opened wide and he coughed. "No no, I'm sure you can make some friends there." Maddie frowned. "Danny be nice! If your little sister wants to hang out with you, she can. You have to be a role model."

"Yeah Danny, a role model." Dani stuck out her tongue at him. "None of that Dani dear, let's keep our tongues inside our mouths." Jack scolded, his mouth full of flapjack. "Jack…" Maddie glared at her husband. Jack quickly covered his mouth. "Sorry…" Dani stifled a giggle. Maddie turned and looked at Dani. "Your father's still right young lady. No fighting at the table. That goes for all three of you."

Jazz gasped and pointed at herself. "Me? Why me?" "You know how you and your brother bicker sometimes." Maddie reminded her eldest daughter. Jazz sighed, and looked down. "I guess…"

The Fentons continued to eat in silence. When Danny finished, he got up and went to hug his parents. "Have a good day, son!" Jack and Maddie said in unison. "And remember be careful!" Maddie added. Danny smiled. "I will. Jazz, can I get a ride?" He turned to his older sister. "Sure thing little brother. Just wait outside, I'll be there in a sec." Jazz said, getting out of her seat.

Danny nodded and headed outside in front of Jazz's car. He waited a bit before Jazz walked out, jingling her keys in her hand. "Let's go!" She said, unlocking the car doors. Danny hopped in and set his backpack on the car floor. "You know you could have just phased through." Jazz pointed out, taking a seat. Danny clicked in his seat belt. "And I could have just flied to school."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Just didn't feel like it. Just like how you can get A+'s on every assignment but you don't."

Jazz rolled her eyes and elbowed her brother in his stomach. "Ow! Don't do that." Danny rubbed the spot his sister just hit. "That's what you get Mr. Know-it-all." The girl plugged in her keys and started the car. "So you're pretty excited to see Tucker, huh"

"Yeah. Sam and I haven't seen much of him lately, I've really missed him." Danny sighed

"Have you guys kept in touch?"

"Yeah, through computer chat rooms but it's not the same."

"That's understandable."

After a bit more small talk, they finally were about to pull up to the school. "Where do you want me to drop you off? The front, or by the football field?" asked Jazz.

"Front. That's where Sam's gonna be." Danny leaned forward to pick up his backpack and set it on his lap. "Okay little bro," Jazz started as they came to a halt in front of the school. "I'll see you later, okay? And if you need a hiding place, just let me know." Danny nodded, and hopped out the car. "Later Jazz." He waved, putting on his backpack straps.

Jazz flashed him a smile and drove off to find a parking spot. Danny watched her drive off and sighed. 'Time for hell to begin…' He thought to himself. He took a deep inhale before turning around. Lucky for him, the yard was empty. "Right, I'm here early." He sighed, walking to one of the picnic tables in the front.

When Danny sat down, he put his head down to try and get a bit of extra sleep. "Hey dude. Everything alright?" he heard someone say. The black haired boy shot up and turned around to see his best friend Sam behind him. "Oh Hey," He gave her a smile. "Just a bit tired."

"Well did you get Tucker's email?" Sam asked, sitting next to her friend.

"Yeah! I really miss hanging out with him."

"Being Mayor sounds pretty boring." The goth said and she pulled out a bag of unsalted sunflower seeds

"Well, Tuck always finds a way to make thing interesting." Danny held out his hand for some seeds.

"That's true." Sam agreed, taking out one single seed and placed it in the boy's hand. Danny frowned and Sam rolled her eyes in reply. "Fine. But no more, got it?" Danny quickly nodded as the girl dropped a few more in his palm.

"So what's your plan for today? Any escape routes?" Sam asked, changing the subject. Her friend shrugged, popping a seed into his mouth. "I don't know. They've already found out all my tricks."

Sam looked down, trying to think. "We gotta ask Tucker. He'll probably have something." She spat out one of the seed shells into a plastic cup and held it out to Danny. He took the cup, spat into it as well and set it down. "I guess. I should probably hide. The wave is coming." He gestured to the school bus where Paulina and Star were getting off.

"I'll see you later then, Danny. Good luck!" Sam waved as Danny stood up to leave. "Bye, Sam. And thanks. I'll definitely need it."

"Please don't notice me, please don't notice me, please don't notice me!" Danny whispered repeatedly as he walked towards the school buildings. He knew at as soon as Paulina saw him, she would run to him and pester him until school started.

"Oooh Danny!" A accented voice called from behind. "Fuuuuck." Danny spat. It was gonna be a painfully long day.

I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! The story is gonna start off a bit slow until I get to to good stuff so be patient!


	3. Chapter Two- Chatting

"Are you positive Tuck knows where we are?" Danny picked at his meatloaf as he and Sam ate their lunch in the somewhat dark supply closet. "Yes! I told him in AIM, we eat lunch here." She reassured her friend. Danny sighed, taking an apple slice and shoving it in his mouth. "If he's not here in five minutes, I'm giving up hope."

Sam shrugged, taking a bite out of her salad. The two friends ate in silence for a while before something slipped under the closet door. The unexpected movement caused the both of them to jump. "What is it?" Danny asked, dropping his spork. Sam frowned and picked it up. "It's an envelope."

"Where's it from?"

"It says…. It's from Tucker!"

"What? Let me see." Danny took the envelope and read it under the dim, flickering light. "It is…" Sam gave him a quick glare. "I thought I already established that smart guy." She snatched the envelope back. Danny raised an eyebrow in surprise at her response. Sam noticed and laughed. "Don't be so serious dude. I'm only joking."

"Well, then what's the letter say?" Danny went back to eating his food. "Hold on…" Sam ripped the top half of the envelope and pulled out a small sheet of paper. "Umm… it says 'Sorry I couldn't make it today. I had stuff to attend to. I'll be sure to clear everything tomorrow! - Tucker.'"

"What a bummer." Danny sighed, putting a sporkful of meatloaf in his mouth. Sam nodded. "Told you popularity wasn't everything." The Goth leaned back on one of the trash cans. Danny gave her a look of confusion before realizing she wasn't talking about Tucker anymore. Danny sighed. Normally, he never liked to admit he was wrong, but this was an exception. "Yeah, you're right. I can't step one foot into this school without being bombarded with hormonal teen girls screaming and yelling at me to go out with them."

Sam chuckled. "Valerie and I are probably the only girls here that don't do that dumb stuff." Danny smiled and nodded, and then remembered. "Valerie!" He accidentally said out loud. Sam raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"

Danny bit his lip. He didn't want Sam to think he still had a thing for her. "Well, um I haven't talked to her in a while, and I forgot that I was gonna talk to her today…" He spoke nervously, his face flushing. Sam blinked as she tried to read his body language.

"Danny, you know you can see other people right?" She asked. Danny nodded and then shook his head, realizing what she was getting at. "No no! It's not like that!"

Sam wasn't buying it. "Sure, Jan," was all she said as she stood up, threw her trash away and helped Danny up. "I might not approve of her, but I'm gonna help you find Valerie and then you're gonna talk to her." She threw Danny's trash away and shoved him out the closet. "Make us invisible." She instructed and Danny followed.

The duo walked down the halls and into the cafeteria, invisible to all the students were in there. "Sam, this isn't what I had planned out..." Fenton gritted his teeth as he spoke. Sam rolled her eyes. "And what was that plan exactly? Just stare at her until she thinks you're a stalker and hates you forever?"

Danny pouted. "Alright that's it." He said, lifting up his friend as they phased through the school building until they got to the roof. "Listen Sam, I'm not into Valerie like that anymore!" The ghost kid said, placing Sam in front of him. "Then what's with the sweating and the blushing?" She asked, crossing her arms.

Danny bit his lip. "It's nothing, I swear! You know how she felt about Phantom, and now that she knows we're the same person… I just wanted to see if we were still enemies or not." The boy explained. Sam looked at him for a moment. "…Okay I believe you. But still you have to do something. And right now is the time to do it."

"You mean right now as in right now right now? "

"What else does right now mean?"

"Well I can wait 10 years and I could do it right then."

"But right then isn't right now."

"But then, I could say it's right now."

"Shut up and quit your stalling." Sam glared, poking him sharply in the chest. Danny lifted his arms in surrender. "Okay okay but I'll talk to her after lunch at her locker." Sam glared at him more, pressing her finger harder against him and then stopped. "Right after lunch. Got it?"

"Got it. But why do you care so much?" Danny lowered his arms and crossed them, giving Sam a hard look. "Because, you get too afraid and shy to do certain things that you need to do. Also I don't trust Valerie and if you don't know if she's your enemy or not your safety can be in jeopardy and your safety is important to me." The goth said in a serious tone. Danny's face softened. "Well then, thanks."

Sam smiled, giving her friend a hug. "Of course. Now, can we go back inside?" She asked. Danny blinked and then nodded "Oh, right, sorry." He picked up Sam again and phased back to the first floor, outside the cafeteria. "The bell's about to ring. Best of luck to ya." Sam said, jumping out of his arms. "I don't know if I can do it." The black haired boy admitted. "C'mon. You helped save the world. You can do this." The girl encouraged. "I'll see you later." She gave him a quick hug and left. Danny sighed and looked down. "It's now or never."

The bell rang.

* * *

"See you later Val." Star waved to her friend as she locked her locker and walked off to 4th period. "Bye girl!" Valerie waved back, taking her math text book out of her locker.

She took a long sigh. It had been a long day, and she has a math test next period. She has stressed out all night last night trying to study. but she still feared she might fail.

Suddenly a cough from behind her interrupted her thoughts. She jumped and immediately turned around, obviously startled.

Valerie looked up to see none other than Danny Fenton awkwardly standing before her. "H-hey." He gave her a small smile. Valerie's eyes widened. She didn't know what to say. Danny Fenton. Danny _Phantom._ What could she possible say to him?

"Uhh… Valerie?" Danny's smile faded as the girl before him just stared. Valerie quickly shook her head, snapping out of her daze. "Yeah?" She spoke, her voice very hoarse.

Danny bit his lip for a second and then cleared his throat. "Well I wanted to know if we could talk…?"

"Yeah sure, whatever." Valerie spoke fast, closing her locker and clutching tight onto her math book. She had to get out of there and fast. She didn't know what to say!

She desperately thought of something to tell him. She had to make up an excuse. "Oh would you look at that class is about to start." Valerie quickly turned tail and walked off. She glanced behind her and winced. She didn't want to be rude. But she still couldn't talk to him. What could she have said?

She continued to walk off, leaving a confused and somewhat hurt Danny behind.

* * *

"And she just said nothing?" Sam asked, lying down at the foot of Danny's bed. Sam had come over to Fenton Works to keep Danny company, since he didn't feel like going out that day. "Nothing! She just turned and walked away." Danny hugged his knees and groaned as he sat directly across from the goth girl.

"Well maybe she hasn't had enough time to think things over." Sam pointed out. "Well maybe she might not even take the time to do so." The ghost boy muttered. "Well I have an idea. You still have her AIM user, right?" Sam slid off the bed and walked over to the computer.

"Yeah," Danny lowered his knees. "You're not gonna message her, are you?"

"No, I'm not. You are." Sam turned on the computer and input the password, only for it to deny access. "It's not PaulinaFenton anymore? Wow I'm impressed." Sam smirked, turning around to face him. Danny just rolled his eyes and hopped off the bed. "Move over. "He said walking over the computer. Sam got up from the chair to let Danny sit and he quickly typed in the password.

"What is it this time?" Manson asked playfully. "PhantomHeroOfEarth" Danny whispered, embarrassed. "Well it's better than Paulina." Sam admitted, grabbing a stool from the corner. "Alright now open AIM." Sam told him setting to stool down next to Danny and taking a seat. "I know what I'm doing, Sam." Danny side glared. Sam stifled a laugh and nodded.

Once Danny opened up AIM, Sam took over the computer. She quickly typed in Valerie's username and sent a chat request. Danny raised an eyebrow. "How do you know her user?"

"You put us in a group chat together before. Duh."

"Oh right. I forgot."

"Well would you look at that, she accepted." Sam pointed at the screen. "Oh shit. What do I say?" Danny panicked. Sam placed her hands on his shoulders from behind. "Calm down and breathe. Just ask her how she's doing and ask her about what happened today." She spoke coolly.

Danny took a deep breath and nodded as he typed.

DFENTON: hey val

GHOSTH8R: oh hey…

"Ghost hater, huh?" Sam crossed her arms. "Oh please, it's been like that for a year." Danny explained. "Okay now what do I say."

Sam thought about it for a moment. "Okay I got it. Just say 'so about today' with three periods at the end."

DFENTON: so about today…

GHOSTH8R: oh, i'm srry about that

GHOSTH8R: look, if u wanna talk i can talk after school tomorrow in the gym

A smile grew on Danny's face as he replied.

DFENTON: sounds gr8. i'll see you then

"Congrats. Now what?" Sam stood up from the stool. "I don't know. We can watch TV I guess." Danny shrugged, putting his computer on sleep mode.

"Alright. Sounds good to me. Do you think it would be okay if I stayed for dinner?" Sam asked

"Yeah. We can go ask my mom. I think we're getting takeout tonight. And don't worry. We have salad in the fridge."

"Okay great, as long as salad is an option. I'm really tired of the gourmet food from my personal chef. They're horrible with ultra recyclo-vegetarian meals."

"Aren't all of those meals horrible anyways?"

"Danny…" Sam growled, shoving her friend out of his chair. She glared and then smiled. '"That's better." "That hurt!" Danny yelped, rubbing his elbow that hit the floor first. "You've been through much worse." Sam lended him a hand. Danny narrowed his eyes and took it. "So anyway, I noticed you weren't mauled by the wave today?" That goth girl hauled her friend up from the floor.

"That's because I've been going invisible all day long." Danny stood up straight and walked towards the door. "Why haven't you done that before?" Sam followed him and they both walked down the stairs. "It takes a lot of energy to do it for that long, but today I really needed to get stuff done. I had to."

"Smart choice." Sam plopped down on the couch once they got down stars. "But I'm assuming you're exhausted?" "You don't know the half of it. What should we watch today?" Danny sank down next to her. "I have a few ideas." Sam took the remote and surfed through the channels.

Danny sighed and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. This was the calmest and smoothest day he had had in a while.

He loved it.

 **This chapter was a bit hard for me to write. In all honesty, I was never really good at writing dialogue so if the conversations seem a bit off then that's why. Nonetheless I still hope you guys like the story so far. And I'm open to suggestions! Also, Valerie's username for the instant messenger in the episode Flirting with Disaster is actually Ghosth8r. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter Three - The Attack

**CHAPTER 3 - The Attack**

It was a quiet, peaceful night at Fenton Works. Sam had already gone home and the whole family was settling down. Jack and Maddie were in bed, snuggling up as they watched some Late Night Talk Shows on their new bedroom TV, Jazz and Dani stood over the bathroom sinks as they brushed their teeth and Danny was getting ready to slip into his velvety bed sheets.

The ghost boy gave a happy sigh as he pulled his sheets over him. For once he had a break. No fangirls and no ghost attacks to bother him. This was just like his life used to be. Before Phantom came into the picture. But he was finally ready to end the day.

Danny gave up a small smile and cuddled up against his bed sheets, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

It was cold. Danny shivered as his eyes slowly opened. He glanced at his alarm clock. "2:14 am?" he groaned. Why did he have to wake up in the middle of the night? He curled up in his sheets for more warmth but he still felt freezing cold. That's when he realized his ghost sense was going off. Danny shot up and looked around. He saw nothing. The boy scratched his head. ' _Maybe it's just Dani.'_ He thought, lying back down.

He tried to go back to sleep, but his ghost sense went off again, and again, and _again._ Danny knew it wasn't his little sister but he also knew he wasn't alone for sure. The latter quickly looked around, but he still saw nothing. "Hello?" He whispered turning around. There was a quiet sound of movement.

"I know you're in here. Who ever you are." Danny called again, crawling out of his bed. The boy tiptoed towards the light switch and flicked it on. The room filled up with light, but Danny still saw nothing. "Come out! You can't hide forever!" He spoke louder this time.

"Careful. You don't want to wake up everyone." A voice replied. Danny trembled. He never heard that voice before and he didn't like it. The voice was calm and low. It spoke smoothly like honey, but it there was a hint of scratchiness, like nails on a chalkboard. Danny _really_ didn't like it. It made him feel queasy.

"You wanted me to come out? Well here I am." the voice spoke again. Danny's floorboards creaked as a large figure emerged from under his bed. His eyes widened in shock as the figure rose and stood right in front of him.

It was a ghost, of course, but it appeared to be a tall, thin woman with very bony features. She towered over Danny and had long tangled brown hair that reached her bony little knees. Her thin face consisted of a long scraggly nose and two jet-black pools for eyes that pierced through Danny's very soul. Each of her fingers had 3 red rings on them and at the end, she had long, claw-like fingernails that seemed to be at least a foot long. She gave Danny a wide, disgusting smile that showed off her sharp, jagged and crooked teeth.

She horrified Danny

The ghost woman laughed at the dread that covered the boy's features. "You like what you see?" She joked, inching closer. Danny backed up until his back hit the door. "S-s-stay back!" He yelped.

"'S-stay back!'" The she-ghost mimicked. "You're a cute kid! It really is a shame I have to do this to you." Her eyes went from black to a bright, eerie white that looked like the headlights of a car.

Danny trembled in horror at the sight. No. This wasn't the time to be scared. He knew what he had to do. The she-ghost lunged at him with a roar, bearing her teeth but Danny leaped out of the way just in time, causing the ghost to ram into his door. "Going ghost!" He cried.

Now, in his ghost form, he flew above the woman and cleared his throat. The ghost spun around, her eyes filled with rage. "So… you really are a halfa." She concluded. "You've heard of me?" Danny asked. "Of course. Every ghost knows of the halfa that saved Earth and the Ghost Zone. This is gonna be a lot tougher than I thought."

"Am I intimidating?" Danny slightly puffed out his chest. "No. I like a challenge. It'll make this a lot more fun. For me at least." The ghost quickly shot out an ectoplasmic ray at the white hair boy, flinging him toward the wall. Danny went intangible, soon finding himself outside Fenton Works.

"Now let's see how well you put up a fight." The ghost woman followed him outside the building and hissed, charging at him again. This time Danny didn't have enough time to react and took the blow as the she-ghost crashed into him. Danny managed to slip away and hit her with a few rays to slow her down.

The ghost turned back around to face him. "Clever boy," She grinned. "Just as I hoped."

Danny raised an eyebrow in confusion, crossing his arms. "What do you mean?" The ghostly woman ignored him and shot an ecto-ray towards his face. Danny ducked and flew closer, blasting both of the ghost's hands with his ice ray, turning them both into large ice cubes.

"That's interesting." The ghost woman laughed, slamming both her hands together to break the ice. Danny blinked in surprise. He'd never seen anyone do that before. "Who are you?" Danny asked.

"That's not important right now," She replied. "But sadly, we're running out of time. It's been a fun little battle ghost kid, although it's been short."

"What do you mean?" Danny repeated. Her vagueness made him feel uneasy. "You'll soon find out." That sickening smile reappeared on her face. Danny shot two more ecto-rays at her but she only dodged them. Danny gasped as both rays hit the Fenton Works building, creating a huge hole in his own bedroom wall. The ghost woman used this to her advantage, catching the boy off guard as she grabbed Danny by the neck and held him close to her face.

Danny shrunk back as the ghost placed a long fingernail underneath his chin. "Such a handsome boy. But not for long I assume." She whispered. Danny kicked and tried his best to wriggle free but the ghosts grip only got tighter. Pretty soon, she was choking the life out of him and he reverted back to his human self. Danny's eyes widened as he desperately gasped for air. Was he going to die?

"And now for the finishing touch." The ghost boomed. Lifting the choking Danny up in the air and throwing him to the ground. Danny hit the street so hard, it created a dent. Pain flooded his entire body and every breath he took felt like fire.

"I hope you enjoy your gift." The woman floated down until she stood above him. "My master will be happy to hear about this." She laughed, then disappearing into thin air.

Danny coughed and tried to get up, but he felt so much pain that he couldn't even move. "Help…" He muttered as he heard people calling for him. He heard screams and footsteps before his eyes closed shut.

* * *

"Mrs. Fenton, he's waking up!"

"He is! Danny! Danny, can you hear me?"

Danny groaned, slowly opening his eyes. "Wh-what?" He rasped as he made his way back to consciousness. He no tried to move his arm up, but pain shot through it in an instant. "Ow ow ow!" He cried, as tears began to form.

"Shhh. Danny, honey, try not to move." Danny looked to see his mother hovering over him, concern etched on her face. "Where am I? What happened?" He asked his voice scratchy from his sore throat.

"Well," Maddie bit her lip. "We found you passed out on the street last night. We knew we couldn't take you to the hospital, so you're on one of the experiment tables in the lab."

"How long have I been out?"

"For about 10 hours. It's 9:51 right now." Danny heard someone else say. "Sam?" he asked, trying to recognize her voice. "Yeah." She replied, walking over to Danny. "Oh hey." He gave a the goth a small smile.

"How's it going?" She asked, taking a seat on a stool next to Maddie. "Everything hurts, big time." He groaned. Maddie frowned and stood up, walking over to her desk. She walked back, with a cup and a straw in her hand and sat back down.

"This is a special tea I made for you. Its supposed to numb your pain," Maddie explained. "I mixed it with human medication, my own kind of ghost medication and some lemon tea. It takes about 10 minutes to take effect, but when it's ready you should feel like normal. Drink up." She took the straw and placed it in the cup, then holding it up to her son's mouth.

Danny nodded and began to drink it. He winced at the bitter taste of medicine as it hit his tongue. It was hard to swallow but Danny managed to force it down anyways. "Make sure you drink all of it." Maddie reminded, noticing his reaction. "It might not taste the best but it'll help."

Sam watched Danny for a bit before she looked at the ghost shaped she noticed the time, she took a deep sigh and stood up. "Well Danny now that I know you're okay, I gotta jet." Sam walked over to get her backpack.

"Second period is almost over and I have a test in Third that I can't miss, but I'll make sure to pick you up a Nasty Burger after school. Tucker should be here in about an hour too." She explained, mounting the bag on her back.

"Wait. What about Valerie?" Danny pushed the straw away with his mouth, looking up at his friend.

"Don't worry, I'll tell her what happened. I'll see you soon. " Sam gave her friend a smile before turning around and bounding up the stairs. "Bye." Danny called back.

"Who's Valerie?" Maddie asked her son, pulling away the cup. "Uhh, just a girl from school." He hesitated. Maddie raised an eyebrow, but let it go. "Alright. I need to finish bandaging you up you, so just sit tight." She stood up and set the mug back on the table.

Danny sighed as his mom put her goggles back on and picked up a white bandage roll. "Be still." She said, beginning to wrap the white cloth around his leg. Danny flinched when she began to tighten it.

"This might hurt right now but it'll feel better later." His mother told him. When she finished, she took a pair of scissors and snipped the end, placing a small pin in the keep the bandage in place. "Done!"

"But don't you have to bandage other places?" Danny asked, slightly shifting from his stiff, painful position. Maddie shook her head. "Nope. I already bandaged everything else while you were asleep." She explained.

Danny nodded and looked at the ceiling.

"Now I'm gonna go upstairs, so you get some rest." Maddie turned around to clean up her lab station. "But before I go, I just want to ask you something, dear."

"Yeah?" Danny knew what she wanted to know. "What exactly happened last night?" His mother asked. The ghost kid took a gulp of air, trying to remember. Certain images popped into his head, and gave him a familiar feeling of dread. "I-I-I…" Danny hesitated.

Maddie spun around to looked at her son, waiting for an answer. There was a silence as Danny tried to figure out what to say. "I don't want to talk about it right now." Danny finally said. Maddie sighed and nodded. "I understand. When you can, I'm open to talk, alright?" She pulled off her goggles once more and got ready to walk back upstairs.

"Got it." Danny gave her a mental thumbs up. Maddie smiled. "I'll be back in 20 minutes."

* * *

"COME BACK HERE, YOU FREAK!" Paulina screamed as she ran after Sam in the main hallway. Sam didn't care as she slowly kept walking to 3rd period. Eventually, Paulina caught up to her and yanked the other girl back by the arm.

"I know you heard me." Paulina spat, but Sam didn't flinch. "What's the deal, Paulina?" She replied, crossing her arms. "Don't play innocent, freak. I know what you're up to." The latina pushed Sam backward, but Sam still didn't flinch. "And what is that exactly?"

"You're trying to keep Danny all to yourself!"

"And how so?"

"You know well enough 'how so'! You both weren't at school this morning because you're trying to keep him away from me! He dumped you for a reason. He dosen't like weirdos like you. Why do you think her idolizes me?"

"Wow, Paulina! You're wrong about something again. What a shocker." Sam rolled her eyes. "And I think you mean idolized, not idolizes. He's been over you for the past few months." Steam shot out Paulina's ears as she gave out a frustrated scream. "This isn't over, bitch!" She hissed through clenched teeth, storming away.

Sam shrugged. "So dramatic." She muttered, continuing her route to class.

* * *

"Dammit Danny. Why didn't you set a meeting spot." Sam mumbled to herself as she roamed the halls, looking for Valerie. It was after school and she knew she couldn't bail, she promised Danny and she never broke promises. Soon, Sam gave up looking indoors and walked around the courtyard. Luckily, she spotted Valerie sitting under a tree, obviously looking for Danny.

"Umm… hey Valerie." Sam said approaching her. Valerie jumped and turned her head to face Sam. "Oh hey, Manson. Where's Danny?"

"Well it's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Well I don't so I'll just give you the short version." Hostility was evident in the goth's voice. Valerie noticed but decided to ignore it. "Okay…"

"In a nutshell, Danny got hurt really really bad and he probably won't be at school for the next few weeks." Sam spoke quickly, hoping to leave as fast as she could. She still didn't like Valerie one bit. Valerie gasped. "Can I go see him?"

Sam tried not to roll her eyes. "Sure but not today. Maybe tomorrow." Valerie narrowed her eyes and then nodded. "I'll come by after school tomorrow."

Sam briskly nodded and turned around. "Bye." Was all she said as she hurried along to the Nasty Burger.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. This was a bit wild for me because I've never written a chapter this long. Anyway, I would like to apologize for the last chapter because it was rushed and I forgot to put a divider for each scene. I promise it won't happen again. I really hope you all enjoy this one because it was my first time writing a fight scene and it was kind of hard but I managed to pull through. Again, thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 4 (Part One)- The First Visit

**AUTHORS NOTE:** I am so sorry for the long wait! I honestly don't have a valid excuse for this. I've been procrastinating and it's all my fault and I am really sorry. This chapter isn't going to be very good, just a fair warning, but I hope that the next chapters will be better. I promise I'll try to get chapters out quicker. Also, I'm struggling to make things more interesting and I need more ideas for this story! If you have anything you would like to recommend, please let me know. (A/N continues at the end of chapter)

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4**

 **FRIDAY**

 **12:25 PM**

 **CASPER HIGH**

Lunch time was a time where anything could happen, anything but enjoying a nice calm meal with your friends. Sam wished she could have peace, but like most days, she wasn't going to have her way. Person after person came up to her, asking where Danny was and it really was pissing her off. But she knew the worst was yet to come.

Since Danny wasn't at school and the supply closet was quite lonely, she decided to sit in the cafeteria for once. She sat alone, quietly eating her lunch when someone placed their hand in front of her. Sam jumped a bit and looked up to see Tucker smiling at her. "May I sit here?"

"Tucker! What are you doing here?" Sam asked him in surprise. "Is that a yes or a no?" He replied and Sam rolled her eyes. "Just sit down and answer my question."

"Well, I was headed for the supply closet, but I saw you walk in here, so I came in here instead." He explained

Sam nodded. "I didn't see you yesterday. I thought you were coming over to Danny's."

"I did. But for only an hour. I had to leave early because there was some stuff I had to take care of." Tucker took a sip from his water bottle. "Being mayor sounds hard." Sam sighed, picking at her salad. Tucker shook his head. "Nah. I just have to get settled in. They had this weird training thing I had to do. But after It's all done I can do normal stuff again."

"But you've been mayor for months!" The goth pointed out. "Yeah, it's taking a long time. If they wanted me to be mayor, why would they put me through all of this?" Tucker shrugged. "All the other mayors never had to do this."

"So, what happened when you saw Danny?" Sam brought the original subject back. "It went great. Danny was happy to see me, but he didn't look too good." Tucker's face fell. "Do you know what happened?"

Sam looked down. "He always comes up with some random b.s. every time someone asks, so no one really knows."

Tucker frowned. "What has he been saying?"

The goth gave off a sigh, trying to think. "Well, for starters, he said that he was doing target practice in his room and hit his mirror with an ecto-ray. When he did, the ray bounced back and his him, flinging him outside his room. It's probably one of the dumbest ones he's made."

"And he thinks you believe it?"

"No. He knows we don't but he's just trying to stall."

"Well, what do you think happened?"

Sam bit her lip. "I don't know. I thought it might have been a ghost, but Danny's never been hurt in a ghost battle like this before." Tucker squinted, pulling a burger out of his box. "It has to be a ghost. Who else would have beef on Danny?"

Sam sighed. "I don't know."

* * *

 **3:30 PM**

 **FENTON WORKS**

"Okay Danny, I'm gonna need you to pull harder. Can you do that?" Jazz bent down in front of her brother from the chair he was sitting in. Danny grunted as he tried to pull his wrists apart from each other with an exercise band. He let out a yelp in pain once he pulled too hard and Jazz was quick to help him relax.

"That's enough for today, little bro." She spoke calmly, helping him lay his hands down on his lap. "Jazz, this is pointless." Danny looked down at the bandages that adorned his body, causing Jazz to frown. "This is helping you heal. It's not pointless. If we didn't do this, your body can't heal properly and-"

"I know, I know. You tell me this every time I get hurt, but there's no use. As far as I know, I might never get better!"

Jazz rolled her eyes and ruffled her brother's hair. "You're such a drama queen. You and I both know you need this and we'll keep doing it until you're better."

Danny groaned and looked back down in sadness. He hated being weak and vulnerable. He felt like a tiny balloon surrounded by thousands of needles. Something could bad could happen at any moment and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Jazz sighed and lifted her brother chin up to look him in the eye. "What happened that night, little brother?" The boy flinched and avoided eye contact with his sister as his eyes darted across the room. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell everyone but then he remembered why he couldn't.

Jazz's face softened and she sighed, lifting her brothers chin up to look him in the eye. "What happened that night, little brother?" The boy flinched and avoided eye contact with his sister as his eyes darted across the room. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell everyone but then he remembered why he couldn't.

* * *

 **FLASHBACK**

 **DANNY'S DREAMS**

"Hush. Hush. Hush." a familiar voice chanted

"Hush. Hush. Hush." The words swirled around Danny as he stood in the center of darkness. The words got louder and louder each second and it made Danny's ears pound. "Stop!" He cried covering his ears, but it provided no help since the voice was still loud and clear.

"Hush! Hush! Hush!" The voice yelled. A puff of smoke appeared from it was the she-ghost. Danny gasped in horror quickly backing away before he stumbled over his own feet and fell. He half expected the ghost to laugh, but this time she was dead serious, which made her only 10 times more frightening than she was before.

"What do you want." The boy rasped. The ghost rushed in front of him and picked him up by the throat, just like she had done before. "I want you to listen to me, got it?" She hissed. Danny tried his best to nod and the ghost let out a sigh. "As far as I'm concerned, nothing happened. You tell no one what happened."

"If I do then what happens?"

"Look into my eyes." She pulled the boy closer. Danny gazed into her eyes as the most horrific images were displayed before him. He tightly shut his eyes closed as he begged for her to stop. "Okay! Okay! I won't tell a soul."

The ghost nodded and dropped him. "Very well then." And with that, she was gone.

* * *

 **PRESENT TIME**

"Danny? Danny! Don't do this again! You know you can tell me right?" Jazz waved her hand back and forth in front of her little brothers face. Danny shook his head, snapping back to reality. "I already told you. Target practice." He tried to sound as calm as possible.

His sister gave a sigh in defeat. "Alright then. I guess I'll just-"

"Jazz? Danny?" Jack Fenton cut his daughter off as he rushed into the room. Jazz whipped her head around. "Hey, Dad."

"Dad!" Danny smiled. "Hey, how's it going son! I haven't seen you awake in days." Jack kneeled down before the boy. "I'm alright. Just tired." Danny sighed and looked down. Jack nodded. "Your sister's work-out program?"

"Actually Dad, it's physical therapy." Jazz corrected. Her father looked up at her and pretended to understand. "Right…" The red haired girl rolled her eyes and walked towards the stairs. "Danny hasn't eaten yet so I'll go get him some lunch." Jack nodded at his daughter and looked back to Danny. "Danielle told me you have a couple more friends coming over today.."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "She did? Who?"

" She said something about that Valody girl or something. She said Sam told her."

"Valerie!" Danny gave a sharp inhale, provoking a coughing fit. "Easy there!" Jack tried to calm his son down as the boy continued to hack. When Danny recovered, Jack asked, "What's all the fuss about Val...erie about?"

"It's nothing, Dad." Danny tried to explain. "I'm just a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting her to come over." Jack nodded. "All right then. I need to run to get some more stuff for your room, so it's just gonna be you and Jazz."

"Where's Mom and Dani?"

"They both went to the store ran to the store to get something but I'm not sure what. I kinda zoned out when your mother read me her shopping list."

"Ah, okay. See you later Dad."

* * *

"Sam, wait up!" Valerie called as she ran after the goth. Sam took a sharp inhale and spun around. Valerie gave a smiled and panted once she finally stopped. "I thought I'd never catch up to you!"

Sam rolled her eyes. "That's what I was hoping." She muttered under her breath. Valerie raised an eyebrow. "What was that?" Sam shook her head. "Let's just go."

The two girls walked in silence from Casper High. It wasn't a long walk to Fenton Works, but it felt like one to Sam. Finally, after about 5 minutes of quiet, Valerie decided to break it. "Look, Sam, I know you hate me." She started. "And you have good reason to, but just give me a chance to clear it up."

Sam gave off a low hum in response and the girl next to her sighed.

Silence soon returned and it stayed for a while before the honk of a car came from behind. The girls spun around and noticed Maddie Fenton driving down the street in her brand new white convertible.

The woman stopped next to them and rolled down her window, revealing Dani in the seat next to her. "Hey girls!" Maddie greeted in a sing-song voice. Valerie gave a little wave to Dani and Sam gave Maddie a smile. "Hi, Mrs. Fenton. We were just on our way to Fenton Works." She explained.

"Well, you girls can ride with me! Go ahead and hop in the back." The woman responded. Sam nodded and without hesitation, she jumped into the car with Valerie following her. "So," Maddie began as she started the car. "How's school been?"

Sam, who was sitting right behind the driver's seat, gave a heavy sigh. "Not too great. All of Danny's 'fangirls' have been pestering me about him." Maddie frowned and glanced at Sam through the rear-view mirror. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I know how his fans can be a bother at times."

"Yeah!" Dani chimed in. "At the store, a few people came up to us and kept asking us questions about Danny!"

Maddie nodded and agreement. "It's never going to end. If it was it would have ended months ago."

"You're awfully quiet back there, Valerie." Dani turned around in her seat to face the girl behind her. Valerie looked up from her lap awkwardly to look at the youngest Fenton. "I just don't have anything to say, that's all." She replied in a low whisper.

Dani noticed that Valerie wanted to be left alone so she just nodded and turned back around. Suddenly, a shadow flashed over the car and Dani's ghost sense went off. "What was that?" Maddie asked, looking around the street. "A ghost." Dani rolled out her window and peered out of it.

"Ghosts probably realized that Danny isn't around. Maybe they're here to take advantage of that."Sam suggested. Dani shook her head, whipped her head around and looked at the goth. "I think you're looking too far into this, Sam. Whoever it was, they're gone now so they probably didn't want any harm."

Sam squinted a bit, before relaxing again. "We shouldn't be ignoring this…" She inaudibly whispered.

* * *

 **AUTHORS NOTE:** This is not gonna be the full chapter four only because I wanted to get some stuff out quicker. I'll try to have the rest of it out by next week! Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 4 (Part Two)- The First Visit

"Hey! Valerie! No… that sounds to fake. What about, Oh Valerie nice to see you!" Danny sat in his wheelchair, trying to practice what he wanted to say when Valerie came. So far it wasn't going so well.

"Ugh!" The boy cried. "I'm not gonna be able to talk to Valerie, I know it."

"Well you're kinda gonna have to." Danny recognized Dani's voice from behind.

"What?" He asked, confused as he tried to turn his chair around. "Here let me help with that." His little sister said, flying over to him. She carefully turned the chair towards the to face…

" _Valerie."_ Danny took a sharp inhale as the girl he had been thinking about non stop for the past few days stood before him. It almost felt like a dream, but at the same time it was a nightmare.

"Hey, Danny." Valerie awkwardly waved as she looked him up and down. Her stiff expression quickly softened at the sight of all his injuries. "I'm sorry about what happened."

Danny lightly shook his head as if getting out of a trance and nodded. "Yeah… me too."

Valerie shyly ducked her head, not knowing how to respond. Danny clearly sensed that Valerie was feeling just as nervous as he was. "You can sit there." he made a gesture towards the leather black swivel chair by the stairs.

Valerie gave a quick nod before walking over to the chair and wheeling it towards Danny. She placed it about 2 feet away from his wheelchair and slowly sat down. "So… what did you wanna talk about?" She bit her lip as she looked over to Dani who was still behind Danny.

The ghost girl giggled and mouthed 'Awkward' before vanishing. "Well…" Danny cleared his throat and Valerie snapped her attention back to him. "I wanted to apologize. Explain myself to you."

The girl in front of him looked down. "Okay…"

Danny sighed. "I didn't want this to be awkward. I know this is weird for you, it is for me too. Just hear me out, alright?" The boy tried to act calm, as his heart beat faster and faster each second.

Valerie looked back up and nodded. "I'm sorry, it's just… I don't know. This _is_ weird." She let out a small chuckle. Danny lightly smiled as he tried to think of what to say.

"I know you never liked Phantom and I know it was wrong to lie to you but I couldn't just stop..." He began. "

"Hold on, Danny." Valerie interrupted. "I understand all that, it's just… why did you try to kill me?" Danny slightly jumped at her question, not remembering what she was talking about. Suddenly it came to mind and he sighed. "I wasn't. You remember I already knew who you were right? I knew a ghost took over your suit and i was trying to destroy _it_ not _you._ " He explained. Valerie nodded. "I...forgot about that. So you never wanted to fight me?"

Danny was quick to shake his head. "No, of course not! Maybe at first… but then I got to know you…" Valerie softly smiled. "How about we forget the whole rivalry we had. Be friends again."

"I really would like that."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey guys! I'm so so so so so sorry for not updating. I've been kinda out of the Danny Phantom loop for a bit and then school just started and it's kinda crazy. I promise though, I'm getting better at this! I'll be back for chapter 5 in the next few weeks so please look out for it! Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 5- Valerie's Dilemma

**It's been quite some time since the last update but never fear, Invisible Secrets is back! I've left it for a bit because I didn't believe what I had in mind for the story. Originally I was going to have the she-ghost work with Vlad and have Vlad return but I've since then scrapped that idea. Ever since then, I was writing without an outline because I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't. Now after taking a 5-month break, I'm back with a stronger storyline and I can't wait to finish telling you my story of Danny and Valerie!**

* * *

"C'mon, C'mon!" Valerie hissed as she struggled with unlocking her door. She had just gotten back home from her visit with Danny. Even though it was finally over, she still felt nervous, making the fact that she couldn't open the door even worse. No matter how hard she jerked her key around, the door handle failed to budge. "Please! Come on!" She applied more force but unfortunately, her efforts weren't successful.

"Ugh…" Valerie groaned sitting down next to her apartment door setting her backpack next to her. She put her head in her hands and stayed like that for a while. Her mind drifted off, thinking about Danny again. Her talk with him seemed a bit rushed. A bit forced. Even though she didn't hate him, she didn't know if she was ready to be friends with him. She said she would like to be but she wasn't sure. After all, he was number one on her hunting list.

But then she thought about the condition he was in and then all the girls that chased him constantly throughout the day. "It must be hard for him…" She muttered to herself. He was dealing with a lot. She sighed and thought about how despite all his newly earned fame, he only really had Sam, Tucker and his family. The vast majority of his fans didn't really care about him, more so the _idea_ of him. He really needed people to be there for him. It wasn't like the people he had weren't enough, Valerie just felt that she could be there for him as well.

It would give her time to decide if she really wanted him to be in her life.

Valerie's thoughts came to a close once she heard her door eerily creak open. She flinched in surprise, nervously wondering how it could have possibly opened. "It was glued tight!" She slowly stood up, picking up her purple backpack at her side.

Anxiously chewing on her lip, Valerie carefully opened the door all the way. She wasn't prepared to see what was on the other side.

Her apartment had been ransacked. Everything either tossed around on the floor or broken. The sofa was turned over, the TV screen was terribly cracked and her fridge was knocked on its side. Not to mention all the broken vases and wall decor that remained shattered on the brown carpet.

Valerie stood at the door in shock, _no_ , complete and utter **horror**. After being frozen for about 5 minutes, Valerie stepped over all the clutter and walked towards her room. It somehow was even worse. Her bed had been flipped over and broken in half. All her dresser drawers were sprawled across the floor, her desk chair was missing an arm and her computer was completely destroyed. Quickly, she looked in one of the drawers by her desk and pulled out a bag. But the bag was empty.

She took a sharp inhale and ran to her nightstand, looking for something important, but it wasn't there. It wasn't there.

Whoever came here took her weapons _and_ her suit. The one day she forgot her suit at home it was stolen. The one _single_ day out of the thousands and thousands that she had her suit. "This can't be real!" Valerie cried. Who knows who had her dangerous weapons. Who knows what they'll be able to do with them.

Valerie rummaged through her backpack, taking out her cell phone. Danny's name came up first in her contacts and she stared at his name for a bit. "There's no point…" she whispered. And she was right. There wasn't anything Danny could do right now. Her next choice was to call Tucker. It was his personal number so it would be easier to reach him, she thought.

She pressed his name and put the phone up to her ear, standing up to pace across the room. "Tucker Foley. Who's speaking?" Tucker asked when he answered the phone. "Tuck, it's me, Valerie."

There was a sigh of relief. "Oh thank god. I thought another one of those complaining citizens realized I ignored their calls on my business phone and found my personal."

Valerie was quiet.

"So, what's up?" Tucker asked, noticing her silence. "I need you to come to my place, now. I don't have time to explain. And bring Sam." Val was straight to the point. "O-Okay. Is it serious?" Tucker sounded uneasy. "Very. I'll see you in a bit." Before Tucker could say bye, Valerie hung up.

* * *

17 minutes later, there was a knock on Valerie's door. She briskly walked over to it and swung it open. Tucker, Sam, and Dani flinched on the other side, not expecting such a sudden greeting. "Thank you for coming. What's she doing here?" Valerie pointed at Dani.

"I was still at Fenton Works, Tucker called, she wanted to tag along." Sam briefly summed it up. "So what's the big emergency?" Tucker asked, preparing himself for the worst. Valerie sighed, stepping aside to let them in.

There were a series of gasps as everyone stepped inside. "What the…" Tucker was speechless. "It was like this when you got here?" Sam looked around in shock. Valerie nodded, "That's not even the worst of it. They took my weapons. _My suit_."

Tucker, Sam, and Dani all gasped. "This has to be a ghost." Dani decided, flying around the room in investigation. Tucker cautiously looked around, watching carefully where he stepped. He peered into the kitchen, looking at the fallen fridge and broken decorations. "What if it was the ghost Dani sensed earlier? They could have been coming here while we were going to Fenton Works." Sam pointed out.

Dani rubbed her chin. "You have a point there. Valerie?" She looked at the girl sitting on the floor, wearing an expression somewhere in between sadness, annoyance, and anger. "Huh?" Valerie snapped her head up. "I don't know. Maybe. I just don't know what ghost would know I was a hunter. Or had the weapons at the very least."

Tucker peeked out of the kitchen, "What if it's the same ghost who attacked Danny?" Everyone looked at Tucker and thought for a second. Whoever it was, if it was the same ghost, had to have a grudge against Valerie _and_ Danny. But who was it? Vlad was in exile so that wasn't an option. When it came to thinking about this, everyone drew a blank.

"When is your dad getting home?" Dani hovered above the couch. Valerie pulled out her phone. "In about an hour and a half." She explained. Dani nodded. "We got two options here. We can either call my mom and have her take ectoplasm samples or steal the equipment and do it ourselves."

"First seems best. Your mom is already upset about that Danny incident, and the risk of her finding out her stuff is missing makes it worse." Sam told her. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Now that I think about it, I feel guilty for thinking of that." Dani looked down. "But you have to wait until your dad gets home, Val. It would kinda be weird if he came home to see his house looking like a junkyard while my mom is scanning all his possessions." Tucker added.

Valerie nodded. It made her feel even worse to think about how her dad would react to this. She couldn't help but feel that it was her fault and that she would get in trouble for it. She knew she wouldn't but the fear of the thought still lingered.

How the hell did she get dragged into this?

* * *

"Valerie! Valerie are you there?" Mr. Gray panicked. This was not his home. It couldn't be. When he left for work it was in perfect shape. He and Valerie had just cleaned it together last weekend. Now it didn't even seem like the same apartment.

"Valerie!" He called again.

"In here, dad." A voice responded weakly from Valerie's room.

Valerie jump as he father swung her door open. He quickly hugged her, shocking Valerie. She had expected him to be mad. "Are you okay? What happened?" He let go of her to put his hands on her shoulders. "I-I don't know! I came home and it was like this." Valerie tried to make sense of the situation.

"We think it might have been a ghost," Sam said. Mr. Gray turned his head, just now noticing the three other kids in the room. "What are you kids doing here?" Was his response.

"I called them after I got here. We were waiting for you to come home and see if you would let us call Mrs. Fenton." Valerie explained.

"And why do you need to call her?"

"To look for ectoplasm. Proof there was a ghost." Dani told him. Mr. Gray slightly nodded, the same angry and sad expression as Valerie growing on his face. "Call her. Oh boy I hope our insurance can cover this…" He muttered that last part to himself, looking at the damage once again.

Tucker pulled out one of his phones and dialed the number. "Hello? Mrs. Fenton? Hi, this is Tucker." He spoke into the phone, walking out the room.

"Valerie, you haven't gotten in trouble with any ghosts lately, have you?" Mr. Gray turned back to his daughter. "No!" Valerie shook her head quickly. "I haven't gone ghost hunting since the Disateroid incident." Mr. Gray nodded, standing up and walking out Valerie's room to go look at his own.

Sam looked at how upset Valerie was, her face softening as she sat down next to her. Dani sitting down as well. "I'm sorry," Sam started.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault." Valerie interrupted. Sam nodded, looking down. She didn't really know what else to say. Dani sympathetically placed her hand on Valerie's back. She somewhat understood what she was feeling.

"Mrs. Fenton is on her way." Tucker stuck his head back into the room. The three girls nodded.

"Jazz, dear?" Maddie Fenton quietly walked into her daughter's room. Jazz was currently at her desk, observing the websites of her favorite colleges for the 9 billionth time. She was quick to look up at her mother who was now standing next to her desk. "Yeah?"

"Your father and I have to go do some investigating at Valerie's." Maddie placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Oh? What for?"

"We just got a call from Tucker saying a ghost attacked! Could you watch Danny for us?"

"Yeah, mom. I'll be down to check on him in a bit."

"Thank you so much, honey." Maddie kissed her daughter's cheek. "We'll be back in no more than 4 hours."

* * *

It had been about 15 minutes since Maddie and Jack had left and Jazz nearly forgot to check on Danny. The house was completely quiet and Jazz had assumed he was talking a nap.

She was gonna regret not checking on him.

She was gonna regret it soon.

The silence continued as Jazz re-wrote her college pro's and con's list. It was so quiet, that you could hear the light tapping of Jazz's keyboard from all the way downstairs. That's what made Danny's terrified call for Jazz even more startling. He had rarely spoken due to his terrible sore throat, but his voice was surprisingly loud and clear.

Jazz sprung up and swung open her door in a heartbeat, almost tripping as she leaped down the stairs. "Danny?!" She yelled as she ran into the lab. To her dismay, Danny was laying on the floor, in his ghost form, taking sharp breaths. Jazz rushed over to his side in a panic.

"Danny? Are you okay? Talk to me!" She lifted up his arm, earning a sharp hiss from the boy. "You know you're not supposed to transform! What happened?" Jazz was a mess, nearing tears as she looked at her brother.

Danny tried to talk but ended up coughing fit that hurt him even more. "Shhh! You don't have to answer." Jazz said. "I gotta call Mom and Dad."

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**


	8. Chapter 6- Back 2 School

**-CHAPTER 6-**

 **-Back 2 School-**

Danny sighed, after his mother left the lab. He had been sitting back on the lab table, flipping through the channels of the the small tv his parents hooked up next to him. He heavily sighed, tired of just sitting there doing nothing. I loved going with his friends on days like this but he couldn't do anything. Just thinking about it really pissed him off.

While he was flipping through channels, his remote stopped working. Danny frowned hitting the remote against the metal table. He tried again but it still didn't work. Then the tv started flashing strange images, startling Danny. "What the hell…" He rasped, his throat still a bit sore.

Out of the random flashing, there was one image that stood out to him. It almost looked like…. _her._ Danny just thought he was going crazy. It couldn't be her. He wished it wasn't her. But Desiree wasn't here to grant that wish.

The screen froze right on that very image. "No…" Danny begged in a whisper. The tv shook there she was, slipping right out of the screen. For a second, Danny forgot his condition and went ghost. It was excruciatingly painful for him as the two white rings passed over his body. Going ghost drained nearly all the energy Danny had, not that he had much to begin with.

"That was a mistake." The she-ghost hovered above the frightened boy. "I didn't tell anyone! I swear." The ghost boy choked out. Danny hated how vulnerable he made her feel. He was always the one to win and he never showed fear. He saved the world for crying out loud! Why was she able to do this to him?

"Oh I know. But I couldn't just let get heal. Besides you still have more precious energy." She gave that same sickening smile. Danny was confused. More energy? What did she mean by that? "Just leave me alone… please." He pleaded. "You're funny. Honestly you make my job a lot more fun." Without hesitation, the she-ghost picked up the boy and held him up by the arm. Danny tried to revert back to his human form, but the pain was far too great.

The ghost lifted up her hand, her pointer fingers nail growing longer. She took that nail and stuck it into his arm like some sort of syringe. The longer she kept it there, the weaker Danny felt. What was she doing to him?

"Thank you, Danny Phantom." She said sarcastically, dropping the boy onto the floor. The she-ghost turned around, looking at the lab tables. SHe flew over to the table, reaching out to grab a few of the Fenton's weapons only to be shocked by the shield Maddie had placed over it. She lightly cursed, turing back over to Danny.

"J-Jazz…" Danny tried to yell but it just came out as a whisper. "Need help? Let me call her for you." The ghost cleared her throat before yelling out "Jazz! Help!" in a voice that sounded just like Danny's.

"See you again soon!" The Ghost smiled again before disappearing.

* * *

"Mom! Danny's hurt really bad. Please come home!" Jazz spoke nervously over the phone. "Okay, bye I'll see you." Jazz hung up, turning back to Danny. It was about 5 minutes since Jazz found him and he was still on the floor. Jazz tried to pick him up earlier but it had hurt him so badly, she had to stop.

She sat down next to him and placed her hand over his. "I'm so sorry, little brother. I should have stayed down here with you." Danny tried to shake his head. "M-My fault…" Danny whispered. "No it's not! It's okay." Jazz was surprised at the fact that he blamed this on himself. How could it be his fault?

She sighed, lightly squeezing his hand.

"What happened!" Maddie burst into the lab, Jack right behind her. Jazz snapped her head up to look at her parents. "I don't know! I c-came down here and-" She didn't know what to say. A few seconds later, Dani flew in accompanied by Sam, Tucker, Valerie and Mr. Gray.

Sam, Dani and Tucker quickly sat next to Jazz as Maddie and Jack hovered over their son. Valerie wanted to walk over to him, but she felt like an outsider. She decided it was best to stand next to her father.

"I'm so sorry, baby." Maddie leaned forward to pick up Danny, knowing that it was going to hurt him. "Jack help me." She glanced at her husband before hooking her arms under her boy's shoulders. Jack nodded, hoisting his son up by the legs. Danny grimaced, feeling so many different types of pain at once. He tried to look at the people surrounding him but the terrible migraine he had made it hard to see.

Maddie and Jack carefully laid him on the lab table, Maddie fluffing his pillows before setting his head down. "I'll make you some tea." The woman whispered before going to her lab table to fix the tea. Danny grunted in response, slowly closing his eyes.

Dani turned around, her attention drifting from her brother to Valerie, who was awkwardly looking at the floor. Mr. Gray stood next to her, gazing at Danny with sympathy etched on his face. "Valerie!" The ghost girl whispered, causing Val to look up. Dani motioned her over and Valerie hesitantly complied.

"You're his friend too!" Dani pointed out.

 _Am I really?_ , Valerie thought.

* * *

 **6:45 AM**

 **FENTON WORKS**

It had been about a week since the second incident. Danny was healing again, faster than a human for certain. He was able to move around with crutches, which was a big improvement from rolling around in a wheelchair. He was feeling a lot better in his human half, courtesy Jazz's physical therapy. But there was one thing physical therapy couldn't fix.

For some reason, everytime Danny tried to use his powers, it hurt. Flying hurt the most while become intangible felt like being caught on fire. It was pure hell for him and he just wanted out. Just to not feel vulnerable. Not being able to fight back _killed_ him.

But today was the day his parents were sending him back to school after weeks of being absent. Luckily for him, Sam and Tucker helped him catch up on certain subjects. He found himself missing sitting in Mr. Lancer's class, passing noted to his friends across the room and cracking occasional jokes. But the one thing that he was looking forward to was seeing Valerie.

Danny was surprised to find himself thinking of the young huntress but he couldn't stop. He hadn't really seen her the whole week but maybe today would be a chance for that.

"Danny, sweetie, you ready?" Maddie opened the door to Danny's room. Jack had finally managed to fix the giant hole in Danny's bedroom that you-know-who had left so Danny was finally able to sleep in his room again.

Danny sat up in his bed, not even out of his pajamas. "I'm… ready for bed…" He chuckled lightly. Maddie sighed, walking over to the foot of his bed. "You need help getting dressed?" She asked. Danny winced at the idea but took a deep breath, realising with all his casts and bandages, he couldn't do it alone. "Yeah…" he admitted.

"Okay, c'mon." Maddie stood up to stand at the side of Danny's bed. She pulled back his bed covers and held out an arm. Danny took her arm and carefully slid off of his bed. He had a brace on his left ankle and a huge cast on his right leg, making the task even harder.

"Stay still." Maddie said as her son sat at the edge oh his bed. She walked over to his closet and pulled out his regular t-shirt and jeans. "Arms up." She instructed. Danny followed, bringing his good arm and his broken arm up as far as they could go. Maddie carefully put the t-shirt over her sons head, trying not to bend the arm covered in the bright green cast.

Once he had his shirt and eventually his pants on, Danny's mother helped him put on his arm sling and his ankle brace. "There you go!" She smiled, standing back up. She gazed at her son lovingly, soon embracing him in a gentle hug. "Oh, I have such a handsome boy!" Maddie cooed. Danny smiled, lightly nudging his mom away. "Alright Mom…"

Maddie laughed, releasing her son. "Let's get going then. I already got your lunch and your backpack in the car."

"But isn't Jazz taking me like she normally does?"

"No no. I told her to go ahead and leave. I'm taking you today."

"But why?

Maddie frowned. "Do you not want your friends to see me or something?" Danny rapidly shook his head. "No Mom! I don't mean it like that! It's just you always take Dani and not me. I just was confused on that."

Maddie's face softened. "Oh, your father is taking Danielle today. Now we've wasted enough time. You don't want to miss your first day back!"

* * *

 **7:55 AM**

 **CASPER HIGH**

"Are you sure you're good enough to be at school?" Sam looking Danny up and down as they stood in the back hallway, far away from the attention of Danny's "phans".

The half ghost awkwardly stood in front of the goth, leaning on his left crutch to support his right leg that was dressed in a black cast. His broken ankle was in a bulky ankle brace and his blue jeans looked like they were flooding out of it. His bright green arm cast hung from his arm sling, pressed against the boy's body.

Danny tried his best to shrug. "My mom called a doctor and he said I was fine." Sam gave a small nod. She then set down her backpack, unzipped and then rustled around for something. When she felt what she was looking for, her face lit up and she pulled her hand out. "Need someone to sign it?" She held up a black sharpie. "Be my guest!" Danny smiled, holding out his green cast as far as possible.

Sam smiled, stepping forward. "Close your eyes." She instructed, uncapping her sharpie. Danny obeyed, shutting his eyes tightly. He felt the light pressure of her pen against him arm, eager to find out what she was drawing. After a few minutes, Danny got impatient. "What the hell are you drawing?" He asked with anticipation.

"Be patient!" Sam hissed, continuing to doodle. About a minute later, she stepped backwards saying, "Okay, done!"

Danny did not hesitate to open his eyes. He quickly looked down and froze, observing what his best friend had drawn.

There was no doubt Sam was a great artist. In a few short minutes she was able to sketch out a picture of Danny in his ghost form. But there was something different about it. There was a little heart where his logo was and Danny raised an eyebrow. "What's the heart for?" He looked up at Sam.

"Look closer." She said simply. Danny did as he was told and an immediate blush dressed his face as he realised what it said. "D + V…. Are you saying m-me and Valerie?"

"No, you and Vlad. Of course you and Valerie genius!" Sam laughed.

"I thought you hated her."

"Hate is a strong word. Besides, I wanted to see how you would react. You're always so extra about these things."

"I-I am not!" Danny wasn't helping himself as his blush reddened even more.

"So you do still like Valerie!"

"No I don't. Shut up." Danny let his arm rest and he began to turn around. Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm messing with you. C'mon let's get to your locker." She returned to his side as the started to walk towards the hallway where their own lockers were. Danny sighed, looking down at his friend. "I don't like anyone right now."

Sam nodded. "I believe you." She lied.

* * *

"I see Mr. Fenton has come back to join us. He wasn't doing to well the past few weeks, but it is a pleasure to have him back." Mr. Lancer smiled at Danny from the front of the classroom. The class erupted with applause and Danny found himself wishing he was home schooled as he slid down in his seat. He wished he could use his powers because invisibility would be very useful right now.

"Danny! I did all your homework for you!" A random girl Danny never talked to said as she dumped a large stack of paper on his desk. "No, I did!" ANother girl spat, shoving the large stack off the desk and replacing it with her own.

"Oh you did not just do that!" The first girl became vicious. "Oh yes I did!" Said the second girl.

"Actually I did my own homework…" Danny pulled out all his work from his backpack with one arm. "Do you want me to carry that up for you?" The second girl asked. Danny shrugged. "Go ahead." The girl beamed before shooting daggers at the first girl. The first girl huffed before agrily sitting at her seat.

Danny sighed. He was really tired of this.

* * *

"Honestly I don't know how you stay here." Sam said, unscrewing her water bottle cap. "Hm?" Danny looked up from his sandwich his mother packed for him. "What do you mean by that?"

Danny and Sam were sitting in the normal supply closet, eating lunch. Today was even worse than most days for Danny so this time they had to barricade the door. Not that anyone found them in there yet, but that didn't mean it wasn't possible.

"Dealing with all of this. You might as well not even get an education! All these people doing your work like you said." Sam exclaimed. Danny nodded in agreement. "Did I tell you about the girls who tried to fight over sitting next to me in Anatomy?" Sam shook her head in disgust. "No but I don't think I even wanna know. Why don't you just get homeschooled?"

"I'd hate having to sit in a room with a teacher all by myself. It's better when there's more students and you aren't the main focus." Danny explained.

Sam nodded. "Makes sense, but still! Why not go to a private school or something?"

"Have you ever heard of a private school in Amity Park? The closest one is two towns away!"

"You're right. Still, it's a shame you're put through all of this."

"Thanks for caring. Oh, have you seen Valerie today?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't like her." Danny frowned. "I don't. She said we could be friends now. I just wanted to say hi or something."

"Do you honestly think that? After all those years of hunting you, she's gonna suddenly want to be your friend?"

"We were friends!"

"Yeah she was friends with Fenton but she was absolutely set on frying Phantom on a stick!"

"You don't get it. We were starting to get along before the disasteroid. Sam, why are you acting like this?"

"Acting like what?" Sam leaned forward, raising an eyebrow in a challenging manner.

Danny opened his mouth to speak but he didn't want to start a fight. "Nevermind. I'll think about what you said but still, I trust Val."

Sam quietly huffed, relaxing into her previous position.

The two continued to eat their lunch in an awkward silence. Danny frowned to himself, feeling a bit guilty for raising his voice at Sam. But still, the fact that she would draw something like that on his cast and then get worked up over him wanting to be friends with Valerie? It didn't make sense. He sighed, understanding that Sam had her own way of dealing with things and that she really did Have his best interests at heart.

Sam looked up when her friend sighed and opened her mouth to say something but paused once she heard footsteps in a frenzy coming from the hall outside the closet. "You hear that?" Danny looked to Sam, setting down his sandwich onto wax paper.

Sam nodded, backing away from the door when she heard someone messing with the doorknob. Danny panicked, not wanting his only hiding spot left to be compromised. "What do we do?" He whispered to the girl next to him. "Shhh!" was her only response.

The two looked at the door in pure panic, anticipating some crazed fangirl like the ones in Mr. Lancer's class. Instead it was Valerie who pushed back all the trash cans that blocked the door. When she was inside, she slammed the door shut and closed her eyes.

"Valerie?" Danny asked in surprise." Valerie's eyes shot open and looked down at the two teenagers sitting on the floor below her. "Danny? Sam?" What are you guys doing here?"

"We eat lunch in here every day. What are _you_ doing here?" Sam interrogated.

"Hiding from the news team."

"News team? Hy the news team?" asked Danny.

"They saw me going to your house that once day and now they want me to help them find you because they know we know each other!" Valerie cried.

"That's cr-" Danny started before Valerie put her hand over his mouth. "They're coming!" She whispered, listening to the sound of footsteps and yelling outside. "Let's check in here!" A voice yelled. The three kids assumed they were talking about the closet and tried to find a way to hide.

"The trash can! Throw it over me!" Danny told Valerie. She nodded, reaching for the full trash can and Danny yelled "No! The other one." He waved his hand to the trash can on the other side. "Oh, sorry." Valerie quickly stood up, picking up the large, empty trash can and put it over Danny's body.

"What about us?' Sam asked, looking around. Valerie bit her lip before spotting a pile of full trash bags. "Don't they ever take out the trash here?" She said in disgust.

"Well it sure makes a great hiding spot. Come on!" Sam said, freaking out after hearing footsteps approaching the door. Valerie nodded, quickly leaping behind the bags. Sam followed after, gagging at the horrible smell.

"You okay Danny?" Both girls asked in unison. A muffled "Yeah" came from the overturned trash can.

All three of them held their breath as they heard the door knob being messed with. It took the news team a minute but eventually they got the door open.

"What do you see?"

"No one. Although, there's food in here!"

Danny could hear a rustle. They were picking up his lunch bag.

"Guys! I got Danny Phantom's lunch!"

"How do you know it's his?"

"There's a message from Maddie Fenton on it."

 _Mom, why!_ Danny thought.

"Do you think we found Danny Phantom's lunch spot?"

"Yeah! And I think that other lunch is his ex girlfriends."

"He still eats with her? I'm starting to wonder if they ever really broke up."

"You and me both!"

The door shut and the three kids began to stir. Sam and Valerie waited a few minutes before standing up.

"Ugh that wet gym sneaker and rotten bologna smell is gonna linger for a bit." Valerie wrinkled her nose. "I totally want to throw up now." Sam gagged again.

"Before you do that, do you guys mind getting me out of here before I run out of oxygen?" Danny pleaded. "Oh, sorry!" Valerie walked over to the trash can and pulled it up. Danny took a deep breath once he was free before scrunching his nose. "Man, you guys reek!"

"We're aware." Sam glared. Danny nervously chuckled. "Sorry… Anyone mind helping me up?" He tried to pick himself up but that didn't do much.

Valerie nodded, quickly putting her hands underneath his arm pits. She lifted him upwards so that he was standing right up and Sam handed him his crutches. "Thanks." He said to both of them.

"So they took the rest of your lunch." Sam pointed out. "Yeah. It's crazy how those grown adults are so worried about the life of a teenager! It's just creepy." Danny cried.

"Yeah… class is about to start soon." Valerie said. Sam and Danny nodded. "Let's go." THey both said. Valerie opened the door and all three of them walked out.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry the story is still a bit slow, but I promise, we're almost at all the good stuff. Danny is always so clueless. Even when it comes to his own feelings. Thank you guys so much for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


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